The Science Behind Education

Lina Ashar was a teacher in a high-risk neighbourhood in Australia. She had to teach a group of kids about politics. It was a rather difficult topic but she had an instinct about scientific teaching. She set up a mock parliament: the students were live participants. They learnt in a language they knew. They understood. Lina Ashar knew then that if she could capture the children's imagination she could teach them anything. Learning at KKEL is endorsed by the scientific method of discovery and enquiry. Lessons come alive – not out of books and classrooms, but from the real world, and from the science of the mind: the conscious and the subconscious.

The subconscious is more powerful than the conscious mind. Most of our thoughts and actions are determined by our subconscious. The child's subconscious is programmed by parents and teachers, and this impacts the perception of the 'self'. Parents and teachers are the primary providers of safety and security, love and understanding, nurturance and support for the child. When this vital source is lacking or damaged, a negative set of beliefs develops in the child. A child who is repeatedly told about his worthlessness eventually believes in his subconscious that he is so. His efforts to change and succeed will not be easy, as his subconscious protects him by resisting change, and subsequently it prevents him from growing into the person he aspires to be. But the use of scientific teaching tools can overcome this, and real, natural change can happen from within.

The mapping of all that we learn is based on mind science – a tool that communicates to the conscious and the subconscious. It channels thought patterns in a way that empowers each child to develop positive beliefs and eliminate any self-limiting thoughts.

The challenge in our schools was to change the very concept of 'learning'. So far, schools recognised the child's aptitude and talent by testing and grading his knowledge and skills prescribed by the explicit curriculum. However, we recognised the need to initiate the implicit curriculum – learning beyond the textbook and exam. We introduced the Performance of Understanding. Children would enact their knowledge and skill; parents could infer what their children had understood and imbibed at school.

Self-confidence and the propensity to take risks come largely from how we are brought up and schooled. Our education system is designed to provide children with the hard skills they need. However, children also need soft skills: self-esteem, confidence, integrity and optimism. By initiating this we can guide a generation of young children into a future of fulfilment and success. Our aim is changing not what, but how children should learn. We persevere to create innovative ways of transferring knowledge so that children can enjoy success in one form or another. The child, thus, doesn't see learning as an ordeal but as an exciting challenge – an adventure.